West Coast Shaving sampler - what order to try blades in?

[ShaveyJones]

Greetings folks!

I just received my blade sampler from westcoastshaving.com, I got the one that consists of the following blades:

Crystal
Personna
Feather
Astra
Derby

I searched B&B, but couldn't find an answer - is there a recommended order to try them in? I've been using the Derby's that came with my razor and so far they're working out nicely. I plan on using them for a couple more weeks as I refine my technique, but after that its on to the sampler pack. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Mike

 

[Tha Baron]

Start with the Derbys/Crystals/Personnas then try the Astra and Feather after a couple of weeks.... YMMV and all that

 

[ShaveyJones]

Man that was fast! Thanks!

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I went through mine alphabetically.

 

[ShaveyJones]

I went through mine alphabetically.

Interesting approach...

I was mainly curious if you should go from least to most sharp or something along those lines...

 

[BurkDarkpatches]

Forget other people's biases. Try each brand at random and expect nothing. Try not to become attached to a particular blade until you're done with the testing, then do the whole thing over again.

Or, even better. Have someone else load the blades during the test and not tell you which is which until you've tested each brand a few times.

My opinion: None of us do this because then we wouldn't be able to type YMMV.

Good luck,

Steve

 

[ShaveyJones]

Thanks Steve, that also sounds like a reasonable plan.

 

[ShaveyJones]

I just saw this on West Coast Shaving's site, FWIW - http://westcoastshaving.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1

Hmmm... maybe I'm over-thinking this. I'm just going to select one at random and use it for a few shaves and decide which brand works best for me.

 

[goby]

I just saw this on West Coast Shaving's site, FWIW - http://westcoastshaving.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1

Hmmm... maybe I'm over-thinking this. I'm just going to select one at random and use it for a few shaves and decide which brand works best for me.

You are not over thinking it. I like West Coast's suggestion. And I would use the Feather last.

 

[rainman]

Here is the sharpness scale from dull to sharp. 1 dull to 5 sharp

1Personna
2Crystal
3Derby
4Astra
5Feather

Here is the smoothness scale from smooth to rough. 1 smooth to 5 rough

1Personna
2Crystal
3Feather
4Astra
5Derby

Here is the order I would try them in

1Crystal
2Personna
3Derby
4Astra
5Feather

 

[martylane]

I got the same sampler pack, but didn't make a conscious decision to try them in any particular order. I think I actually used the Feather first, and was pretty amazed with it, but what I found after switching from one blade to another in the pakc, is that I cut myself with all of the blades except the Personna, and the Personna gave me the least irritation. Out of the other four, the Astra gave me least irritation. I stuck with those two blades -- Astra and Personna -- and then would occasionally switch to one of the others to confirm what I'd found before. In the end, I chose to use Personnas exclusively. I could have gone with the Astras, as they're comfortable and a bit sharper, but I've never had problems with Personnas.